UP: Slim chance of smaller players getting big roles

While the major Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh are apparently joining hands to fight the ruling BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, fringe players, too, are weighing their options.

LUCKNOW: While the major Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh are apparently joining hands to fight the ruling BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, fringe players, too, are weighing their options.

Unlike the 2017 Assembly polls, when the smaller outfits played an important role in deciding the tally of the party they allied with, 2019 is a different ball game altogether. In the LS elections, local issues, which smaller outfits thrive on, take a back seat.

Therefore, as big players are chalking out strategies for the big battle, parties like Apna Dal, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (both BJP allies), Peace Party, Nishad Party and Bhim Army are waiting and watching.

“In general election, caste-based outfits have limited roles only in their areas of dominance. So, they don’t get much attention from the bigger players. But they will certainly try to woo national parties with their clout at the time of polls,” says political commentator J P Shukla, adding that these parties were unlikely to get seats if they ally with bigger players.

With the SP and the BSP joining hands, major chunk of seats will be shared by them, sparing just 8-12 for RLD and Congress. Smaller outfits, over a dozen in number, will hardly get room to play any significant role in UP.

“Accommodating smaller parties will be a challenge. If they agree to field their candidates on our symbol, like it happened in the Gorakhpur bypoll, only then can they get some space,” a SP leader said.
The onus to accommodate smaller parties is likely to be on the SP as Mayawati has already spelt out her share of seats.

Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party chief and Cabinet Minister O P Rajbhar may be roaring against his own government in a bid to assert his party’s independent status. But  the fact is that the party had been trying its fate in elections since 2004 Assembly polls and could open account in 2017 only after aligning with the BJP. Likewise, the Nishad Party won the Gorakhpur bypoll on the SP symbol.

“Similar arrangements with smaller outfits may take place in 2019 with the rider that their candidates will contest on our symbol,” says the SP leader. “It’s a symbiotic relationship,” says political expert Ashutosh Mishra. If the fringe players contest independently, they could end up with just 3-4 per cent votes in their pockets. In alliance, they benefit the big brothers by increasing their vote share and fetching a few more seats.

Major players are wary of smaller parties which poach on their vote banks in caste-specific pockets. If the BSP is cagey about the Bhim Army of Chandrashekar Azad, Shiv Sena is giving sleepless nights to the BJP as it has decided to fight 2019 polls in the state. “Parties like Swaraj Party, Bahujan Dalit Samaj Party and Bahujan Vijay Party will not only create confusion among Dalits but will also cut into our votes,” says a BSP leader.

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